Hershey Introduces Bill for Prescription Opioid Regimes

HARRISBURG – Rep. John Hershey (R-Mifflin/Juniata/Franklin) introduced a bill today to require that prescribers enter into treatment agreements with new patients who need a prescribed opioid regime.

House Bill 1740 would require a prescriber to ensure new patients understand the risks of addiction and dangers of overdose associated with opioid medications.

The prescriber would be required to conduct baseline drug testing for the patient to flag undisclosed drug use and noncompliance with treatment, unless there is a compelling reason not to do so.

“Because of the opioid crisis and addictive nature of opioids, we need to create public policies like this to protect the health and safety of Pennsylvanians. This proposal is just one part of what needs to be a multi-faceted approach to address this devastating crisis,” Hershey said.

Pennsylvania had the third-highest rate of overdose deaths in the 2017 statistics reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The state had 5,456 overdose deaths and the nation had 70,237 overdose deaths that year, according to the CDC.